Corporate report

BPDTS Ltd business plan 2020 to 2021

Published 16 April 2020

1. Foreword

Our organisation is now just over three years old, and this business plan celebrates some of our achievements so far, as well as setting out our plan for the year ahead.

As we publish, we are in the second week of lockdown in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the organisation has quickly adapted to working from home. These are unsettling times for everyone, and supporting our employees and their wellbeing in the weeks ahead will be a priority.

We are also proud to be key workers in this time of national crisis, supporting the DWP in keeping their core systems and infrastructure running. By working together, flexibly and at pace, we aim to ensure DWP employees can continue to access digital services and the benefits systems can be supported through unprecedented levels of demand, so that vulnerable people receive the support that they need.

Over the coming months, we will remain flexible to the changing needs and requirements from our customer. We do not know how long this situation will last or what the priorities will be. Our commitment is to stand with the Department in delivering the services that can best support the public, whatever they may be. This plan, then, represents our original delivery aims – but we will make any changes necessary to adapt and deliver in support of the emerging service priorities.

Our 2020/21 Business Plan will focus on 4 key strategic priorities:

• Strengthening our Relationship with DWP
• Improving Service Quality
• Developing Talent
• Supporting our People

We will also continue our commitment to building the strong and positive culture that makes BPDTS a great place to work.

Loveday Ryder, Chief Executive

2. About us

2.1 Who we are

BPDTS Ltd is a private limited company, whose sole member is the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. We were set up in 2016 to provide digital technology services to the DWP, our sole customer.

We are unique as a public body because we can deliver technical services at a significant cost advantage over the private sector. We provide a genuinely differentiated employment offer, taking advantage of our size, flexibility, gradeless structure and pure technical focus to enable us to attract digital professionals not usually available to the civil service.

Our vision is to take a truly people-centric approach to delivering outstanding digital solutions with DWP.

We believe our people are at the heart of the organisation, and that attracting and retaining high-calibre digital professionals is the key to delivering outstanding services to our customer.

2.2 What we do

Our mission is that as part of DWP’s family, we create and run secure and intuitive digital services that meet the need of millions of people.

Our services help to ensure DWP Digital can provide simpler, secure, faster and more efficient digital services that meet the needs of the people who use them.

2.3 How we do it

Our strategy is to do this by developing talented, innovative people who are empowered to deliver transformational results.

Making that a reality means that the way we work and the organisational culture we grow is as vital as what we do. We are committed to empowering individuals to be the best they can be at work, enabling and supporting them to deliver.

We are an organisation with a distinctive culture. We make the most of the public service ethos we share with the civil service and blend it with the flexibility and opportunities we have as a young and dynamic company, with a dedicated technical focus.

Working together at BPDTS, united in what we’re trying to achieve, we support one another to deliver our goals, realise our ambitions, and make our organisation a great place to work.

2.4 Where we do it

More than 1000 BPDTS colleagues are co-located with experts from the DWP Digital, primarily in 6 main hub locations geographically dispersed across England. These locations are: Newcastle, Blackpool, Manchester, London, Sheffield and Leeds.

Additionally, we provide an end-user computing service, supporting DWP users to work productively with their technology in DWP offices across the country.

Our approach means we can work in innovative ways either as part of a BPDTS team or, increasingly, embedded in multi-skilled delivery teams, alongside our customer.

2.5 What our customer says

Services being provided by BPDTS are helping us to improve the stability and resilience of our digital estate. They are supporting us in ensuring our digital services are available when they’re needed, are fast and inclusive enough to meet our users’ needs, and are secure from a range of threats. I’ve been personally impressed by what they’ve contributed, the calibre of the digital technology experts they’ve assembled and their ideas for innovation. I’m confident their expertise and professionalism will aid us in moving forwards with our strategic roadmap – where we’re digitising services at scale and with pace, and delivering a consistent and intuitive user experience, away from our legacy technology estate.

Simon McKinnon, DWP Chief Digital and Information Officer

3. Strategic priorities

Our priorities for 2020/21 can be summarised as follows:

• Strengthening our relationship with DWP We are united around our common purpose and get the best value from the differentiated BPDTS offer
• Improving service quality We reliably deliver results that contribute real customer value and are underpinned by everyday innovation
• Developing talent Our people can bring their best, are appropriately recognised and supported in continually developing their talent, with an eye to the future
• Supporting our people We support our people with systems and processes that are easy to use and robust, providing value for money

We will deliver each of our strategic themes with clear metrics, built-in success criteria and measurable, realistic targets.

3.1 Strategic priority 1: Strengthening our relationship with DWP

Background

Over the past 12 months, BPDTS has completed its initial growth phase to deliver the service capacity that DWP has requested. As a result, we now work alongside DWP at every level, in teams, in practices and at every hub site. This year we have also supported an independent Tailored Review, which has been looking at the operating model and whether any improvements can be made.

As part of the DWP family, next year, we want to focus on consolidating our relationships and making the most of every opportunity to collaborate. We believe that by focusing on relationships and celebrating what each organisation brings to the partnership, the whole team will be greater than the sum of the parts.

What we delivered in 2019/20

Over the last year, we saw a continued increase in the range of services we were able to offer our customer and in our ability to grow services from within. This was enabled through the investment we have made in learning and development and our communities of practice. Particular successes include the introduction of site reliability engineering and ability to support a range of new technologies. This is helping to build the capability to deliver the services we need, now and in the future.

In refining our recruitment process, we have continued to develop our profile and employee value proposition in the external market and hone the way we identify, attract, and assess digital skills. Our process from ‘advert to offer’ consistently beats our 7-week target and enables us to compete in a fast-paced market. DWP feedback on quality of our new capacity has been very positive, and we have taken on several new services this year, for example, network and fabric engineering.

As we completed our growth and switched focus to internal recruitment, we have been able to offer many career development opportunities and see our people progress to new roles and levels.

In 2019/20, we have focused on:

• Refining and optimising the recruitment process, ensuring our offer remains competitive and attractive in the market
• Practice Leads with specialist technical experience leading our communities of practice, developing and attracting new talent
• Refining our service offerings, illustrating the range of services we can offer
• Using recruitment to improve our diversity and establishing ourselves as a great employer for women in digital, through targeted mentorship schemes This approach has been successful, and the organisation has grown significantly this year to its target size to meet current demands.

Our priorities for 2020/21

In 2020/21, we plan to focus on implementing the recommendations of the Tailored Review and ensuring that any improvements in our operating model are put in place. As we now work alongside DWP people in so many areas, we also want to ensure that we collaborate and operate in the most seamless and effective manner – getting the most value out of our complementary service offer.

As the relationship between our organisations matures, we also plan to review the governance mechanisms to ensure that they reflect the voice of the customer and the unique relationship between us. With our shared vision for exemplary public service, we want to celebrate our successes jointly, and stand shoulder to shoulder with DWP in ensuring the technology services provided are as good as they can be.

Next year we also aim to support the wider DWP family where BPDTS expertise can provide better value and fill a skills gap. This enables the fixed overhead to be leveraged, increasing cost competitiveness.

In tandem, we will develop our service offerings to set out more clearly how to buy BPDTS services and strengthen our in-house capability to respond to service requests.

In 2020/21 our aim is:

Strengthening the relationship with DWP so that we are united around our common purpose and get the best value from the differentiated BPDTS offer

To achieve this outcome, alongside our business as usual activities, we plan to deliver the following objectives and key results:

Improve organisational collaboration:

• Understand how the recommendations from the Tailored Review can be implemented and develop a shared vision for the long term
• Ensure that the ‘voice of the customer’ is more clearly expressed through the company governance, so that successes can be jointly celebrated, feedback can be received and actioned, and DWP’s future plans and needs from BPDTS are better understood
• Identify and signpost common areas of interest more effectively across the organisation, and with DWP, to ensure our people have access to a greater range of knowledge sharing events

Enable differentiated service growth:

• Establish the process to enable service growth, if value for money can be demonstrated over alternative suppliers
• Set out more clearly the BPDTS service offerings, including cross-practice services, giving a more coherent ‘front door’ to buying services from BPDTS

3.2 Strategic priority 2: Improving service quality

Background

As part of the DWP family, we share a common ambition to provide world-class digital and technology services that make it easier and simpler for citizens to interact with the Department when they need to. Feedback on what we do and how we do it, is vital and we will continue to seek out and respond to feedback from every area of the business in which our people deliver services.

What we delivered in 2019/20

Our service delivery performance during 2019/20 has continued to be good, and we are proud of the excellent work our people have delivered and of the new talent we have recruited. Feedback from our customers in DWP has been very good and we have seen a consistently positive Net Promoter Score. All feedback has been followed up over the course of the year by capturing and responding to it, both formally and informally.

Overall service performance on the general service obligations, measured by DWP Digital, has improved over the year, and we are consistently achieving target on 96% of these measures. There are two areas where we are not consistently meeting the standard - one is a new service recently transitioned from another supplier, and the second reflects a critical, scarce skill set. Plans are in place to address both.

Balancing the sometimes competing needs of the business versus the individual, where assignment and development need do not match up, has been a challenge. The Partnership Lead roles introduced this year are well placed to help to broker pragmatic solutions to ensure people are supported to manage their career progression alongside their delivery priorities.

In 2019/20, we have focused on:

• Developing new services, such as site reliability engineering, where we have run a development programme to ensure our people are equipped to meet changing demand from DWP. Eight engineers are now operating successfully in their new careers
• Maturing communities of practice and running a programme of activities over the year to facilitate sharing good practice, and building relationships
• Developing service standards for roles in each of the practices, based on industry-wide expectations
• Developing an in-house ‘agile’ coaching service to offer advice and support to teams, and embedding the transition to new ways of working
• Working with DWP to move towards a single, modern device for every employee, with a standard toolset, migrating away from expensive legacy hosting contracts. This is in parallel with a move towards more automated pipelines, helping to promote regular releases of high quality, supportable code into production

Our priorities for 2020/21

During 2020/21, we will continue to mature our service capability, working on improving consistency and codifying a best practice approach in each area. This will provide a foundation for service assurance, offering advice and support to DWP and addressing any divergent practice, where needed.

Our practice model has brought many advantages in supporting communities of interest and providing a network for development support. Our organisation now needs to benefit from more consistency and collaboration between practices, and across lines of business to ensure that we are not operating in siloes and working as a team rather than individual operators. We will also continue to collaborate with DWP’s practice network to combine efforts and share learning, where we can.

Our in-house agile coaching service will continue to offer advice and support to teams, but we have identified the adoption of the latest version of the globally recognised service management standard, compatible with agile (ITIL 4), as being the biggest opportunity for improvement this year.

Another aspect of our focus on service quality is in embedding the Partnership Leads into DWP senior teams for each line of business. Through this, we aim to gain a greater insight into DWP’s future priorities, and provide a focal point for BPDTS services that can channel feedback, respond to issues and help to meet new or changing service needs.

We recognise that there is likely to be a further Spending Review in the coming year, and we will work with DWP to ensure that our services and approach are adapted to meet any emerging transformation plans.

Finally, we aim to be in a position to offer high- quality advice and thought leadership to DWP in support of its strategic decision-making. We aim to create a supportive environment in which all employees can contribute to everyday innovation ideas and, thus, to the continual improvement of DWP’s offerings to citizens. We also want to encourage our experts to become thought leaders through attendance at conferences, industry, and networking events and sharing their learning within the company.

In 2020/21 our aim is:

Improving service quality even further, so that we reliably deliver results that contribute real customer value and are underpinned by everyday innovation

To achieve this outcome, we plan to continue to deliver our existing service portfolio as well as the following new objectives and key results:

Mature service offerings:

• Enhance each of our service offerings by defining best practice approaches, to assure quality and provide a foundation for clear and consistent professional advice to DWP
• Adopt a globally-recognised framework across Service Management (ITIL 4) that supports agile ways of working and provides standard terminology and practices across the service lifecycle

Deepen understanding of DWP lines of business:

• Embed Partnership Leads in DWP lines of business to provide a joined up view of BPDTS services, act as a focal point and be responsible for enhancing the quality of the services provided
• Ensure BPDTS people working in lines of business have a clear view of DWP aims, priorities and purpose and understand the business and user needs
• Agree improvement initiatives for each line of business, focused on user need, which are regularly reviewed with DWP leads

Improve innovation and thought leadership:

• Continue to support our people in identifying innovation ideas that can make a difference to the time, cost or quality of our services, building confidence, providing feedback and celebrating success
• Encourage and support our people in contributing their thought leadership and expertise through external conferences, industry partnerships, networking events and meetups, sharing ideas and bringing back the learning to the organisation

3.3 Strategic priority 3: Developing talent

Background

We are aware the environment we are working in is ever changing and developing, with new technology, skills and techniques being introduced at increasing pace. To thrive when everything is changing, requires real leadership and purpose. We are committed to developing outstanding leaders at every level, taking responsibility for their development and coaching and supporting their colleagues in developing their talent. Investing in learning and skills will help us to excel in the services we provide today and be ready for the challenges of the future.

What we delivered in 2019/20

Over the last 12 months, we have continued to invest heavily in development and to build a culture that encourages learning at every level, in every setting. We have seen some success with this, with learning and development being one of the major positives from our employee engagement results. Our communities of practice have led the work in this area, with a varied programme of events and knowledge sharing. Our new training platform has been a vehicle for a vast array of training, alongside investment in new technology skills needed to support the systems we run.

Our commitment to uplifting skills and supporting our people as they transition from sun-setting systems has seen some notable successes. Many people have learned new skills, moved between practices or disciplines, and embarked on new careers within the company. We have also offered over 50 apprenticeships within the company to help people to boost their skills and follow their aspirations.

We have prioritised leadership training this year, building the capability of our people to lead effectively, whatever their role. This, in parallel with our investment in agile coaching across the organisation, has begun to transform the way we work and to bring about the culture change we wanted. Supporting our people to be the best they can be, is at the heart of what we want to achieve as an organisation.

In 2019/20, we have focused on:

• Publishing an organisational learning and development plan and strategy
• Rolling out a Personal Leadership Programme to senior leaders and training 19 trainers to deliver the course to all employees
• Progressing opportunities for rotation of roles and job shadowing to suit individual needs, encouraging a number of lateral moves to widen experience
• Rolling out a smarter working initiative to promote more flexible working, enabling people to have a better work life balance, whilst meeting customer needs
• Communities of practice, which have continued to contribute to individuals’ development by providing a programme of learning events for their members
• Increasing the number of colleagues involved in mentoring; now over 50% of our experts have mentees they support
• Introducing a mentorship scheme, initially targeted at women, to focus on building confidence and facilitate progression
• Supporting chosen charities in each of our hubs, promoting fundraising and volunteering to enable people to help local good causes

Our priorities for 2020/21

Over the next 12 months, we will continue with our commitment to develop talent and build a learning organisation. Being curious, acquiring new skills, and sharing them with others will be part of the way we work. We will also continue to focus on our leadership and how well we’re developing others, actively seeking feedback and continually improving our techniques.

We want capability building to be accessible and relevant to all, so we will continue to review innovative and fresh approaches to providing learning and development opportunities. We will look at the interventions we procure and ensure we are making opportunities available to all through our diversity and inclusion strategy.

We know that career mobility is a real priority for people, so to enhance this, we need better clarity around our existing skills landscape. Moving forward, we need a more robust, enterprise solution to provide us with management information on skills gaps and to help drive decisions around the Learning and Development strategy and training investment. People need the ability to see the full job catalogue for the organisation and validate their skills against it to see career mobility opportunities. A pilot is already underway, and we plan to rollout a solution.

This year we also plan to align more of our roles with, for example, the Digital, Data and Technology framework, which will make it easier to identify training plans and facilitate future skilling.

Apprenticeships continue to be of great importance, and we have found it challenging to recruit and retain some premium skills in the buoyant digital market. This year we will continue to look for premium skills that can be better grown than recruited, and develop apprenticeships to enable us to build the scarce capability needed in niche areas.

We plan to develop better training for our managers in supporting their people even more effectively, as we roll out a framework focused on regular career conversations and development coaching, rather than bi-annual objective box-ticking, and the supportive role of the manager is key to its success.

As we complete the rollout of the Personal Leadership Programme we will focus on sustaining the new ways of working to embed a culture of outstanding leadership at every level. This means that we expect everyone to take responsibility for leading those over whom they have influence, and also for developing others to lead.

Finally, we want to provide training to improve consultancy/communication skills and to develop a better career development path for our experts, so they can add even more value and continue to grow their influence, leadership and skills.

These initiatives sit alongside our continued commitment to ensure the BPDTS culture is naturally inclusive and truly enables people to develop their talents and better serve the public.

In 2020/21 our aim is:

Our people can bring their best, are appropriately recognised and supported in continually developing their talent, with an eye to the future

To achieve this outcome, alongside our commitment to continuing to build a supportive and enabling culture, we plan to deliver the following new objectives and key results:

Increase career mobility:

• Improve clarity for people in terms of skills and progression paths by aligning roles to appropriate professional frameworks, such as the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) framework
• Support personal development planning and learning and development investment decisions by rolling out a skills assessment tool, enabling people to validate their skills against key roles
• Work with DWP to ensure all BPDTS job families have opportunities for progression
• Grow ‘hard to recruit’ capability internally, for example through implementing the newly approved DevOps apprenticeship and training further cohorts of Site Reliability Engineers to boost the growing service demand and offer enhanced career development opportunities
• Develop a better career development path for experts so they can add even more value and continue to grow their influence, leadership and technical skills, for example through external certification

Enhance leadership capability at every level:

• Complete the rollout of the Personal Leadership Programme and continue to sustain the new ways of working to ensure we get a return on our investment and embed a culture of outstanding leadership at every level
• Develop and deliver enhanced training in line management skills such as coaching or managing performance, to better equip managers to support their people
• Develop and rollout training to improve consultancy/communication skills for technical professionals, to aid them in having conversations with their assignment managers and stakeholders

3.4 Strategic priority 4: Supporting our people

Background

We believe the role of the organisation is to support its people and to enable them to deliver their very best – which in turn, means better services for citizens and a great place to work. To keep the organisation efficient, we need to continue improving our systems so they are more robust and require less manual intervention. We need our policies to be accessible, simple and enable people to be more effective, not bureaucratic, time-consuming and process-bound.

By ensuring the organisation and our business systems are streamlined and fit for purpose, we can keep our overheads low, retaining our value for money – freeing up time for people to do their jobs. The cost of our support functions is in line with or below public sector benchmarks. At the same time, we have ensured that we meet the normal statutory requirements of any employer and public sector organisation.

What we delivered in 2019/20

Last year, we continued our drive for value for money and increased capacity in BPDTS, enabling DWP to make even greater cash savings from reducing levels of contingent labour.

We have focused on building an organisational culture that mirrors the best from the private sector tech companies and combines it with our public service ethos. We hope this unique culture, in conjunction with our market-facing reward package, remains attractive and encourages the best digital talent to stay and build a career at BPDTS. Retention of the best talent in a competitive market is key to providing a high quality service and keeping costs low for DWP.

In 2019/20, we focused on:

• Improving the robustness of our approach to risk management to prevent unforeseen issues and costs occurring
• Implementing an improved time-sheeting system and ensuring continued control of utilisation and overheads
• Improving levels of employee engagement to gain greater motivation, ownership and buy-in from our people
• Enabling innovation by setting up supporting infrastructure and promoting a culture of innovation and continuous improvement
• Introducing a new intranet and corporate records management solutions
• Through a major change programme with DWP, exited expensive legacy contracts for technology kit provision

Our priorities for 2020/21

In 2020/21, we will look for areas where we need to support people better to enable them to work more effectively. Our major priority is our shared services provision – in terms of quality, accuracy and ease of use. We have already established a work programme to transform the way this is managed and we intend to secure a more robust and user friendly product/service to meet our needs.

Principally, we are aiming for more automated, self-service functionality to reduce scope for errors, time taken to complete processes and provide a better user experience.

The scope of the modernised system would be wider than the current provision, as there are significant benefits in a single, streamlined solution that includes HR, payroll, recruitment, finance, learning and development, workforce planning, performance, procurement and time management.

It should also provide much better insight by enabling access to real-time data that will improve reporting for all. In the interim, our ability to conduct workforce planning effectively needs to be enhanced, to understand better future demand, and to support career mobility and talent development.

As the company has more than doubled, we need to grow our control systems proportionately to ensure we can adequately assure the performance of suppliers, robustness of systems and quality of execution of the core financial and people processes. There are a number of governance areas that need to be strengthened with the addition of more specialist capability this year in finance, HR, commercial and IT.

Our drive to streamline process continues and this year we will focus on the people policies and the HR business partner model, to ensure the right levels of advice and guidance are available to support the business effectively.

Our new performance management framework will ensure there is a regular, two-way conversation between a manager and their people focusing on feedback, coaching, relationship building, career development and flexible but stretching objectives, rather than a bi-annual box-ticking exercise.

Finally, we plan to review our pay strategy and approach to ensure it is sufficiently flexible to enable us to remain competitive in the market and that the governance and controls are working appropriately. There have been changes in the government’s Digital, Data and Technology pay frameworks and in DWP Digital’s approach; a review of alignment and potential improvements is timely.

In 2020/21 our aim is:

We support our people with systems and processes that are easy to use and robust, providing value for money.

To achieve this outcome, we plan to deliver the following objectives and key results:

Make our systems easier to use:

• Improve the shared services solution to deliver better user experience, richer functionality and management information
• Implement a more user-friendly and robust expenses system

Improve the robustness of our control framework:

• Strengthen the control framework by increasing financial and HR expertise to provide additional capability in specialist management areas such as pensions, payroll, organisational development, data analysis, and information security
• Set up governance forums to provide technical assurance and oversight of the company IT portfolio and monitor a pipeline of all IT projects, to comply with GDS spend controls

Ensure key processes meet organisational needs:

• Ensure key people-related processes are accessible, clear and reflect our cultural aspirations Develop and implement an improved workforce planning strategy and process that facilitates a better understanding of future demand, talent development and career aspirations
• Embed a new performance management framework to support people better by improving career conversations, regular objective setting, coaching and people-centric management
• Review BPDTS’s pay and remuneration approach, including control points with DWP, to ensure it is transparent, consistent and flexible to the market

3.5 Our performance

BPDTS measures performance through monitoring and measuring against two distinct sets of key performance indicators:

• Service indicators – measuring how we deliver services to DWP
• Organisational indicators – measuring how BPDTS operates as an organisation

Service indicators

DWP and BPDTS work through the Service Delivery Board to discuss and agree particular services, deliverables, standards, terms and prices, set out in service orders. Performance against agreed service indicators is monitored by the Service Delivery Board, where any challenges to the delivery of services are addressed. Indicators focus on:

Improving Service Quality

• Application to Offer (days)
• Applicants Per Campaign
• New Starters
• Attrition (%)
• Attrition < 12 Months
• Strengthening our Relationship with DWP
• Net Promoter Score
• Satisfaction
• Finance & Control
• Utilisation
• Bench (Max Days)
• Overheads

Performance against these indicators is also reported to the BPDTS Board.

Organisational indicators

Performance against organisational indicators is monitored by the Board, and any challenges to the health of BPDTS as an organisation are addressed.

Indicators focus on:

• Strengthening our Relationship with DWP
• Net Promoter Score
• Satisfaction
• Improving Service Quality
• Application to Offer (days)
• Applicants Per Campaign
• New Starters
• Attrition (%)
• Attrition < 12 Months
• Capacity Gap
• Developing Talent
• Learning and Development Per Person
• Supporting our People
• Employee Engagement Index
• Transformation Progress
• Finance and Control
• Overdue Audit Recommendations
• Utilisation
• Bench (Max Days)
• Overheads
• Risk

4. Governance

Key themes

This Business Plan makes a clear statement of the visions and ambition for the year ahead. We will use this as the basis for developing our governance structure to ensure we have clear policies and strategies to ensure we monitor the implementation of the plan, and we have systems and processes in place to support the implementation.

The BPDTS Board, its sub-committees and executive team operates within a framework agreement with DWP and is fully committed to 3 key themes:

Openness and transparency

Governance affects us all and we will be open in our activity. Our Boards and Committees will present a fair, balanced, and accessible assessment of the organisation’s financial and governance position, performance, and outlook in its annual report. The annual report will be available publicly through Companies House and through our GOV.UK website. We are working with our non-executive directors to increase their visibility in the workplace.

Accountability

We believe it’s important to be accountable for actions, decisions and behaviours. We have regular accountability sessions with our partner agency, DWP, where we share performance information and monitor our business delivery. Within BPDTS, we have developed a number of communications pathways to enable our people to ask questions and seek information directly from our managers. We will seek to explain what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how we are running and delivering our business.

Behaviours

Good leadership behaviours are infectious and our leaders promote a positive and productive culture. Our culture seeks to promote productivity and honest two-way communication, to build successful teams where issues are discussed and resolved, and where well-being, diversity and respect become the norm.

Through the business year, we will be independently assessed and tested through a robust audit programme. Our internal and external auditors communicate to both the Board and the Audit & Risk Committee.

4.1 BPDTS Board

The Board’s role is to provide leadership, set strategy, and agree the overarching policy framework within which BPDTS operates. The Board also assesses performance, monitors outputs, compliance and progress, constructively challenging the Executive where necessary.

The current composition of the BPDTS Board is seven Directors, of whom two are Executive Directors (the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Finance Officer) and five are Non-Executive Directors, including the Chair. All our Non-Executive Directors are independent, bringing a wealth of experience and perspective.

The BPDTS Board maintains two standing Committees: an Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) and a Remuneration Committee. We have terms of reference and clear delegations for each of these bodies.

We also have an independent member of the ARAC, Paul Greening, who adds a wealth of financial and internal assurance experience; and an independent member of the Remuneration Committee, Debbie Alder who has exceptional knowledge and expertise in human resource strategy and organisational development. These independent members can draw on their professional expertise to advise and support each sub-committee.

• Loveday Ryder: CEO & Exec Director
• Mal Singh: CFO & Exec Director
• Jeremy Moore: Chair of the Board
• Valerie Gordon-Walker: Non-Executive Director & Chair of Remuneration Committee
• Ian Wilson: Non-Executive Director and ARAC Chair
• John Osmond: Non-Executive Director
• Katie Kapernaros: Non-Executive Director

Our risk appetite

The BPDTS Board recognises the complexity of risks in decision-making and accepts that there is an element of risk in every activity it undertakes. BPDTS sets its risk appetite (risk tolerance) at a strategic level, to manage individual and collective risks effectively and proportionately. We base this on careful consideration of both the probability and the impact on the BPDTS strategic agenda, should our risks crystallise.

Our systems and processes are designed to manage risk to a reasonable and appropriate level rather than to eliminate all risk.

As a leading supplier of digital technology services, we are also keen to improve and evolve systems and processes. We recognise that the introduction of new technology represents both a range of opportunities and inherent risks.

Risk management

The scope of risks, possible outcomes and the mitigating actions required to minimise the risks are discussed in detail at Board level, within the Executive and at the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee. The Strategic Risk Register is reviewed quarterly.

We have developed a BPDTS Risk Management Framework (RMF) to ensure a consistent system of control is in place to manage all aspects of risk management within the organisation. This is done by managing internal and external risks that may undermine or hamper our ability to deliver our core business and other services.

Strategic risks are managed, owned and reviewed by the Executive Team. They reflect the key risks the company faces as an entity. Operational risks are focused on the DWP systems and processes that BPDTS supports. Risks are discussed, assessed and assigned to individuals who take ownership of their management, including risk mitigation, early warning systems and reporting. We ensure risks are effectively managed and stepped-up or down in priority, as changes and circumstances develop.

Our primary risk themes for 2020/21 are:

• Service Delivery Risks – Managing our customer requirements, managing capacity and quality of service
• People Risks – Attracting and retaining staff, building capability and skills, developing career pathways, engagement strategies, remuneration and culture
• Policy Risks – Organisation, structure and leadership
• Financial & Planning Risks – Value for money, demand planning
• Legal Risks – Legal challenges
• Governance Risks – Effectiveness of control systems, clarity of managing the company under Company Law and as an Arms Length Body (ALB) of the DWP

5. Resource plan

Demand for our services from DWP Digital has stabilised and the business is now adequately positioned to provide the necessary scale of resources to fulfil current service order demand. It is envisaged the overall size of the organisation will remain consistent throughout the year, based on the current demand signals from DWP. Focus will be on retention of the high quality talent we have already secured.

Our current workforce and financial plans for 2020/21 assume:

• No material changes to organisational size in FTE terms
• Consolidation of recruitment levels to meet attrition throughout the year

5.1 Funding

BPDTS have a budget of up to £81.3m for 2020/21.

This figure is based on provisional funding assumptions and subject to change once Government fiscal events are completed.

View our latest financial report

5.2 Support services

BPDTS relies on DWP for a number of key services without which it could not operate. Being co-located with DWP Digital and using many of the same systems as DWP employees, our relationship with DWP must be close and collaborative. We pay for the services we receive, on a transparent basis.

The key services DWP provides to us, as specified in our Support Services Agreement (SSA) are:

• IT – provision of standard DWP kit and access to its systems, infrastructure and support as required
• Estates – provision of accommodation for people delivering services, preferably co-located with DWP teams, as well as BPDTS management and support teams
• HR – provision of HR services and support Service escalation points are established to ensure DWP meets its responsibilities to BPDTS.